The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 70, 12 July 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1876.

LOCAL AND GENERAL. We are sorry to leant, from an announcement wtiieh appears, in another column, that the condition of Mr. Ceorge Snmpter's health will not permit of his standing for the office of Major for the next Municipal year. Mr. Suropter was pressed to come forward by an influential deputation, but his medical actvUer informs him that it would not be prudent to accede to the request owing to the present delicate state of his health. We regret this very much, for rIJ will admit that Mr. Sumpter has tilkd the office with credit to himself, and the dignity becoming the chief dt«ea of Oatnarti. We are requested to state that in the list of recent subscriptions to St. Luke's Church Completion Fund, which appeared in our issue of the 10th inst., the Treasurer omitted to acknowledge a donation of £1 from "An Old Friend.'* We learn that some unprincipled individual entered the front parlour of the Queen's Hotel. Thames-street, between the hours of ten o'clock last night and eight this morning, and cut oat from its frame the most valuable oil painting hanging in the room. It is to be hoped that the perpetrator of such a dastardly action will not tong remain undetected. There was a clean sheet at the Resident Magistrate's) Court this morning. The later Sultan Abdul Aziz Khan appears to have taken his dethronement to heart very keenly, and according to the latest telegrams from Home, he committed suicide by opening a vein in his arm. 'flu's is truly a sad end to a monarch's life, though no doubt there will be found many who will regard the melancholy event as a satisfactory termination to a very complicated state of things. Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Byers made their third atid last appearance at the Masonic Hall last evening, before a |>oor audience. An excellent till was gone through, a scene from Hamlet being ably inqicrsonatcd by Mr. and Mrs. Byers. The afteqnece comprised " O'Cailaghan on his Last Legs," the cast including several members of the Oamaru I>ramatic Club, who played successfully throughout.

Our Doncdin correspondent informs us that a deputation waited upon the DeputySuperintendent yesterday, protesting against the sale of the Leaning Rock, Clyde District, on the ground that the land %vas auriferous.

The "Wellington Argus" says: —"The Strangers' Gallery in the House of Representatives is a disgrace to the Legislature. Badly ventilated and uncomfortable at any time, it hccoincs a kind of Black Hole when crowded, and this session, apparently, no effort is made to preserve order amongst its occupants. When the doors are opened there is a rush winch will certainly cause some serious accident some day; and the same thing occurs when the House rises. People stand up or sit down, wear their hat-s or sit bareheaded, exactly as suits their personal convenience, without any regard to the comfort of others, and during the last two nights the speakers on the floor of the House have been applauded with hands and feet by enthusiastic admirers in the gallery. If the maimers and customs of the pit of a theatre are to be tolerated in the galleries of the Houses of Parliament, of courstf' unpopular members must make up their minds to be hissed, while popular members are applauded. The attention of the officers of the House should be directed to the, condition of the gallery generally, and if better accommodation cannot be afforded the public, order should at least be preserved, even if an extra AX', man or two have to be employed." The following, from a contemporary, it would be impossible to improve upon, either in the matter of grammatical construction, graphic description, or originality of style, and we therefore produce it intact: —" Whilst one of the employees of Mr. Turnbull, butcher, on the Square, was riding one of his horses engaged in the butchering business this (Thursday) morning, the animal by some means broke its leg, and was immediately taken on to the .Square, where it was killed by a good powerful blow on the forehead with an axe. The horse was soon dead, and relieved from the painful existence it would experience were such a course not adopted. The carcase was afterwards tethered to a dray, and dragged across the river to be disposed of." The "N. Z. Times" has the following apology to Mr. V. fyke with regard to a recent article in its columns reflecting on that gentleman :—" Some time ago an article appeared in our columns in answer to remarks made by Mr. Vincent Pykc, in his capacity as Resident Magistrate at Dunedin, concerning the Wellington police and the " N. Z. Times." In the course of the article Mr. Pykc's ability to speak sense or to write English was questioned. Mr. Pyke, as an author of some repute, felt naturally aggrieved at these observations, and we have much pleasure in assuring him that they were in no way intended at the time to convey any reflection on his success as a writer or speaker, and are freely withdrawn by us if Mr. Pyke considers that he was or is likely to be affected by them. At the same time we express regret if they have caused him pain. Indeed, we may now say that we have learned from Mr. Pyke's publisher that a fourth edition of his novel, in reference to which comments were made by us, is in preparation." The Wellington "Argus," a strong supporter of the Government, refers as follows to the tour round the Colony of the " three able civil servants": —"Beyond giving rise to a lot of correspondence between the Premier, Mr. Macandrew, and Sir George Grey, and costing the Colony a considerable sum of money, the mission of Messrs. Gisborne, Seed, and Knowlc3 were absolutely fruitless. The Premier himself admitted this in the Financial Statement the other night, but his remarks very mildly express the real state of the case. Messrs. Gisborne, Seed, and Knowles' report has been laid before Parliament, although certainly not worth the cost of printing. It is the baldest and most utterly useless public document we ever •■"S'Jaed. It occupies some fifteen pages of a Parliamentary paper, but the most careful reading fails to reveal a single useful suggestion, or to give the slightest useful information. Perhaps the most important fact communicated by the Commissioners as the result of their mission, is that the Record Clerk at Christchurch is advanced in years and very deaf; that his son sometimes acts for him, and should get £l5O a-year instead of £IOO, and supersede his father. We do not wonder the Government was disappointed at the result of their action, but they should not have earned that scheme out in defiance of the opinions advanced on all sides against it." The following idea entertained by a Maori on the matter of bankruptcy is rather too good not to be handed down to posterity. A certain chief, a man of intelligence, and punctual in monetary, matters with his pakeha neighbours, was lately a sufferer to the extent of some £3O or £4O tlirough a man going through the Court. In relating the affair to some natives whom he was visiting, he told them that he had lost his money by a man becoming "Packarapu." TJie word rather staggered the aboriginals, who immediately demanded an explanation. It was given as follows :—" A pakeha who wants to become a * Packarapu' goes into business aud gets lots of goods and does not pay for them. He then gets all the money he can together, say £ 2,000, and puts it away where no one

can get it, all except £5. With this he goes to the Judge of the Supreme Court and tells him he wishes to become ' Packarapu.' The Judge says he is very sorry, but of course it cannot be helped, and he then calls all the lawyers together, likewise all the men to whom the ' Packarapu ' owes money, and he says: 'This man is 'Packarapu,' but he wishes to give you all he has got, and so he has asked me to divide this (the £5) among you all.' The Judge thereupon gives £4 to the lawyers and £1 to the other men, and the ' Packarapu ' goes home."